KR101477539B1 - Apparatus for processing digital images and the method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus capable of storing position information in a photographed image before completion of initialization of a GPS module, and a method of operating the same, the apparatus comprising: a GPS receiving unit for receiving GPS position information from a GPS satellite; A sensor unit for detecting movement of the digital image processing apparatus; And temporarily storing the movement information acquired by the sensor unit with respect to the image photographed before the GPS reception unit is initialized. After the GPS reception unit is initialized, the movement information is converted into GPS position information at the time of photographing, And a digital signal processing means for storing the digital image signal.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus and a digital image processing apparatus,

The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus and an operation method thereof, and more particularly, to a digital image processing apparatus and an operation method thereof capable of storing position information in a photographed image before initialization of a GPS module is completed.

A digital image processing device such as a digital camcorder including a digital camera, a mobile phone equipped with a camera module, a PDA, or the like may be a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device that converts light data coming in through a lens into an electrical signal. ) Is used to photograph and record an image of a subject.

In recent years, GPS (Global Positioning System), which can accurately obtain position information and time information of latitude, longitude, and altitude by measuring accurate time and distance from satellites traveling on the earth using a GPS receiver, Technology is developing rapidly.

Such a GPS technology has been applied to various fields. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2007-037168 and 2006-279110, a method of inputting GPS information acquired using a module type or a camera-integrated GPS receiver in real time to a photographed image .

However, while the time required for booting the digital image processing apparatus is about 1 second, when the GPS receiver is initially operated or is not used for a certain period of time and then restarted, the GPS data is received from the GPS satellite Time (45 seconds to 2 minutes) is required. Therefore, in the prior art, in order to input GPS information into an image taken after booting the photographing apparatus, the GPS receiver waits for a considerable time (until it is initialized) until it receives the GPS data completely, There is a problem that an image must be stored without positional information.

In order to solve the above problems and other problems, the present invention provides a digital image processing device capable of inputting position information at the time of photographing to an image photographed before a signal of the GPS module is initialized, and an operation method thereof The purpose.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a GPS receiver comprising: a GPS receiver for receiving GPS position information from a GPS satellite; A sensor unit for detecting movement of the digital image processing apparatus; And temporarily storing the movement information acquired by the sensor unit with respect to the image photographed before the GPS receiver is initialized. After the GPS receiver is initialized, the movement information is converted into GPS position information at the time of photographing, And a digital signal processing means for storing the digital image signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the sensor unit may be an acceleration sensor for sensing a triaxial movement of the digital image processing apparatus.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the digital processing means includes a sensor information input unit for inputting movement information acquired by the sensor unit into a photographed image; An information converting unit for converting the movement information into GPS information at the time of image capturing using the movement information and the GPS information when the GPS receiver is initialized; And a GPS information input unit for inputting the converted GPS information into the photographed image.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the sensor information input unit may input at least one movement information selected from the displacement information, the velocity information, and the acceleration information acquired by the sensor unit into the photographed image.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an acceleration sensor comprising: (a) booting an acceleration sensor and a GPS; (b) photographing an image; (c) inputting movement information obtained by the acceleration sensor with respect to an image photographed before GPS initialization; And (d) after the GPS initialization, converting the movement information stored in the photographed image into GPS information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the image file to which the movement information is input in the step (c) may be temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the movement information obtained in the step (c) may be selected from at least one of displacement information, velocity information, and acceleration information obtained by the acceleration sensor.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, after the step (d), (e) storing the image file including the converted GPS position information in a storage unit.

According to the present invention, in a digital image processing apparatus, an image photographed before a signal of a GPS module is initialized can be converted into an image including positional information at the time of photographing and stored.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram of a digital image processing apparatus and a GPS satellite according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 The digital image processing apparatus 100 may be applied to various image processing apparatuses such as a digital camcorder, a mobile phone equipped with a camera module, a PDA, etc., including a digital camera, but a digital camera will be described as an example in the present embodiment . Also, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a digital camera as well as a compact digital camera shown in the drawing, as well as a single lens reflex (SLR) camera.

Referring to the drawings, a digital image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment communicates with a GPS satellite 200 via a GPS receiving unit 160 (see FIG. 2) including a communication unit (not shown).

At least four GPS satellites (200) operating at an altitude of about 20,000 km are equipped with a precise atomic clock having an error of about one millionth of a second (about 160,000 years), and based on this, do.

The GPS information receiving unit 160 (see FIG. 2) receives a position measurement radio wave transmitted from the GPS satellite 200 at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 10 seconds) to calculate a distance, Position information including the hardness information, time information, and the like.

The digital camera 100 for photographing an image and generating and storing an image file includes a shutter release button 11, a power button 13, a wide angle-zoom button 15w, A telephoto zoom 15t, a function button 17, a display unit 19, and a sensor unit 170 (see FIG. 2).

The shutter-release button 11 is opened and closed to expose the CCD or CMOS to light for a predetermined time, and the image is recorded on the CCD by properly exposing the subject in cooperation with the iris (not shown).

The power button 13 is input to supply power to the image processing apparatus to operate.

The wide angle-zoom button 15w or the telephoto-zoom 15t widens the angle of view or narrows the angle of view depending on the input, in particular, when changing the size of the selected exposure area. When the wide angle-zoom button 15w is input, the size of the selected exposure area is reduced, and when the telephoto-zoom button 15t is input, the size of the selected exposure area is increased.

The function button 17 includes a total of five buttons including an up button, a down button, a left button, a right button, and a menu / OK button. The function buttons 17 are input to execute various menus related to the operation of the digital image processing apparatus 100, and the respective keys can also be used as shortcut keys.

The sensor unit 170 (see FIG. 2) detects movement of the digital image processing apparatus 100. The sensor unit 170 in the present invention uses a three-axis acceleration sensor. The sensor unit 170 can sense the movement and the speed in a specific direction. By using the feature of the acceleration sensor, movement information of the digital image processing apparatus can be acquired, and position information of the image can be inversely calculated using the movement information as described later.

2 is a schematic block diagram of a digital image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The digital image processing apparatus 100 includes a user input unit 110, a photographing unit 120, an image processing unit 130, a storage unit 140, a display unit 150, a GPS receiving unit 160, A sensor unit 170, and a digital signal processing unit 180.

The user input unit 110 inputs signals for controlling various operations of the digital camera by a user's operation and includes a shutter-release button 11 (see FIG. 1), a power button 13, a wide-angle zoom button 15w Or a telephoto-zoom button 15t and a function button 17 or the like.

The photographing unit 120 converts an optical signal of an image of a subject into an electric signal and includes an optical system including a lens unit (not shown) and a filter unit (not shown), an image sensor (not shown), and the like. The lens portion may include a zoom lens, a focus lens, and a compensation lens.

An image sensor (not shown) such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) accumulates the amount of light input through the lens unit and, based on the accumulated amount of light, . Image acquisition of a digital image processing device is made up of an image sensor such as a CCD, which converts the light reflected from the subject into an electrical signal.

In order to obtain a color image using an image sensor, a color filter is required. Mostly, a filter (not shown) called a CFA (color filter array) is employed. The CFA has a regularly arranged structure that passes only light representing one color per pixel, and has various shapes according to the arrangement structure. An analog image signal output from an image sensor (not shown) is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter (not shown), and the digital image signal is converted into an original ) Data.

The image processing unit 130 processes the digitally converted RAW data so that it can be displayed, and removes the black level due to the dark current generated in the CCD and CFA filters, which are sensitive to temperature changes. In addition, gamma correction is performed to encode information in accordance with nonlinearity of human vision, and CFA interpolation is performed to interpolate Bayer patterns embodied with gamma corrected predetermined data RGRG lines and GBGB lines into RGB lines. Also, the color values of the U and V signals are corrected using the standard color coordinate system, and the noise is removed by converting the interpolated RGB signal into the YUV signal, edge compensation processing the Y signal by filtering the Y signal by the high band filter, , And compresses and processes the Y, U, and V signals from which noise has been removed to generate an image file such as a JPEG file.

The generated image file is stored in the storage unit 140, and the image file can be stored in an Exif (Exchangeable image file format) format. In the case of the Exif structure, GPS information such as latitude and longitude provided from the GPS information receiving unit 170, which will be described later, can be stored in the GPS info IFD area in the 0th IFD (image file directory) have.

Meanwhile, the storage unit 140 includes a temporary storage unit for temporarily storing the photographed image file. For example, as described later, since it takes a predetermined time to initialize the GPS module, the displacement, the speed, and the speed of the digital image processing apparatus 100 acquired by the acceleration sensor 170, Acceleration, and the like in the image file, and store it in the temporary storage unit.

In addition, the storage unit 140 of the present invention stores not only the image file but also an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) in which algorithms necessary for the operation of the digital camera processor are stored, A flash memory in which setting data is stored, and the like.

The GPS information receiving unit 160 receives the GPS signal from the GPS satellite 200 at a predetermined time interval (for example, at intervals of 10 seconds) under the control of the digital signal processing unit 180 when the digital image processing apparatus 100 is powered on The latitude, the longitude, and the altitude information as location information. However, the GPS information receiver 160 can not receive GPS information from the moment it starts operating. For example, when the product is used for the first time after the product is completed, or when it is not used for a long time or is restarted, it takes a considerable time to find the initial position from the GPS satellite 200 in order to receive the GPS information . This time may vary depending on the unused period of the GPS, the type of the surrounding feature or product, and the like. Also, the term referring to such a time is also used variously such as a cold time, a warm time, and a hot time. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned terms, as long as it takes a long time to start the GPS operation at the time of booting the image processing apparatus to receive the GPS information.

The sensor unit 170 senses the movement of the digital image processing apparatus 100. The sensor unit 170 in the present invention uses a three-axis acceleration sensor. The three-axis acceleration sensor 170 can sense the displacement, the speed, and the acceleration of the three-axis directions (for example, X, Y, and Z) of the digital image processing apparatus 100. Unlike the above-described GPS receiving unit 160, the acceleration sensor 170 is configured to move the digital image processing apparatus 100 under the control of the digital signal processing unit 180 at almost the same time when the power of the digital image processing apparatus 100 is turned on, Can be sensed. Therefore, by using the above-described features of the acceleration sensor 170, it is possible to acquire movement information of the photographed image before the GPS receiver 160 is initialized, and the digital signal processor 180 can acquire the movement information from the GPS position information It is possible to acquire the positional information on the image photographed before the GPS initialization.

The digital signal processing unit 180 includes a control unit 181, a sensor information input unit 182, an information conversion unit 183, and a GPS information input unit 184 ).

The sensor information input unit 182 inputs the movement information of the digital image processing apparatus 100 acquired by the acceleration sensor 170 to the image photographed before the GPS receiver 160 is initialized. Since the acceleration sensor 170 is initialized almost at the same time as the operation of the digital image processing apparatus 100, the sensor information input unit 182 outputs the digital image processing acquired by the acceleration sensor to the photographed image And temporarily stores movement information of the apparatus 100. [ For example, in the case of a three-axis acceleration sensor, information such as acceleration, velocity, and displacement for the X, Y, and Z axes at the time of image shooting is stored in the photographed image. The image file including the movement information may be stored in a temporary storage unit (not shown).

The information converting unit 183 converts the movement information of the image, which was stored in the photographed image before the initialization of the GPS receiving unit 160, to the GPS position information when the initialization of the GPS receiving unit 160 is completed. Movement information on the relative motion of the digital image processing apparatus 100 such as displacement, velocity, acceleration, etc. is stored in the image file generated before the GPS initialization, instead of GPS information such as latitude and longitude, which are absolute position information. As the GPS information is initialized in the information converting unit 183, the GPS information stored in the GPS receiver 160 is used to store the movement information stored in the captured image as a latitude , Hardness, and the like.

The GPS information input unit 184 inputs the converted GPS information from the movement information at the time of photographing by the information conversion unit 183 into the photographed image file to generate an image file including GPS position information which is absolute position information. At this time, the image file can be stored in an Exif (Exchangeable image file format) format. In the Exif structure, GPS information such as latitude and longitude can be stored in the GPS info IFD area in the 0th IFD (image file directory) area of APP1 (application marker segment 1) area.

The image file including the converted GPS information is stored in the storage unit 140. Of course, the GPS information input unit 184 may include not only the function of inputting the converted GPS information into the image file, but also the function of inputting the GPS information, It is a matter of course to perform a function of inputting the image to the photographed image.

Hereinafter, an operation method of the digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The operation method according to the present invention can be performed inside the image processing apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 2. The main algorithm for converting the movement information into the image file and inputting the GPS information is an image processing apparatus 100 In the digital signal processing unit 180 with the help of the surrounding components in the digital signal processor 180.

First, the operation of the GPS 160 and the acceleration sensor 170 is started (Step 210). Activation of the acceleration sensor 170 and the GPS 160 can be performed simultaneously by booting the digital image processing apparatus 100. [

Next, the user shoots a desired image (step 220).

The control unit 181 checks whether or not the GPS information is received from the GPS receiving unit 160 in step 230. If the initialization of the GPS 160 is completed and GPS information is received, the GPS information input unit 184 The GPS information is input to the photographed image and stored in the storage unit 140 (step 280).

Generally, the digital image processing apparatus 100, such as a digital camera, takes about one second to boot up and takes a few seconds to complete the shooting by performing other operations required by the user to take an image do. However, as described above, the GPS information receiver 160 can not receive the GPS information immediately from the moment when the operation of the GPS is started, and can not receive the GPS information according to the unused time, the surrounding feature, Time (for example, 45 seconds to 2 minutes) is usable. In this case, even if an image is taken, it is impossible to input GPS information. In this case, the sensor information input unit 182 inputs the movement information acquired by the acceleration sensor 170 to the photographed image, and temporarily stores the information in the temporary storage unit (operation 240).

When the GPS initialization is completed after a predetermined time elapses, the information converting unit 183 converts the movement information obtained at the time of photographing by the acceleration sensor into the latitude and longitude using the movement information at the time of photographing and the currently received GPS movement information Into GPS location information (step 260).

The GPS information input unit 184 inputs the converted GPS position information into the corresponding image (step 270), and stores it in the storage unit 140 (step 280).

When the above series of operations is performed, all image files stored in the digital image processing apparatus 100 can include GPS position information regardless of the shooting time.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

1 is a schematic diagram of a digital image processing apparatus and a GPS satellite according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic block diagram of a digital image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating an operation method of a digital image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Claims (10)

A GPS receiver for receiving GPS position information from GPS satellites; A sensor unit for detecting movement of the digital image processing apparatus; And Wherein the control unit temporarily stores movement information acquired by the sensor unit with respect to an image photographed before the GPS receiver is initialized after booting, and when the GPS receiver is initialized, the movement information and the GPS And digital signal processing means for converting the movement information into GPS position information at the time of image capturing using the position information and storing the converted position information in the photographed image. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the sensor unit is an acceleration sensor for sensing a triaxial movement of the digital image processing apparatus. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the digital signal processing means comprises: A sensor information input unit for inputting the movement information obtained by the sensor unit into the photographed image; An information converting unit for converting the movement information into GPS position information at the time of image capturing using the movement information and the GPS position information at the time when the GPS receiver is initialized when the GPS receiver is initialized; And And a GPS information input unit for inputting the converted GPS position information into the photographed image. The method of claim 3, Wherein the sensor information input unit inputs at least one movement information selected from the displacement information, the velocity information, and the acceleration information acquired by the sensor unit into the photographed image. (a) booting an acceleration sensor and GPS; (b) photographing an image; (c) inputting movement information obtained by the acceleration sensor to an image photographed before the GPS is initialized after booting; And and (d) when the GPS is initialized, converting the movement information into GPS position information at the time of image capturing using the movement information and the GPS position information at the time when the GPS is initialized. Method of operation of the device. 6. The method of claim 5, Wherein the image file to which the movement information is input in the step (c) is temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit. 6. The method of claim 5, Wherein the movement information obtained in the step (c) includes displacement information, velocity information, and acceleration information obtained by the acceleration sensor. 6. The method of claim 5, The method of claim 1, further comprising: (e) after step (d), storing an image file including the converted GPS location information in a storage unit. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the temporarily stored movement information includes movement information at the time of image capturing or movement information at the time when the GPS receiver is initialized. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the digital signal processing means uses the movement information at the time of image capturing, the movement information at the time when the GPS receiver is initialized, and the GPS position information at the time when the GPS receiver is initialized, Is converted into GPS position information of the digital image processing apparatus and stored in the photographed image.

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